The government says that policing on the Costa del Sol is "sufficient" at present

Despite the surge in violent crime on the Costa del Sol in recent months, the government has no intention of putting a special plan in place, said María Gámez, the central government representative in Malaga.

Just 36 hours after the shooting in Playamar, Gámez insisted that "the resources we have in place are proportional to the problems we have in the province". She added that the police response to the recent spate of violent crime had been "efficient and forceful" and insisted that, for the moment, no special measures were being considered.

Gámez said that while these recent crimes were "attention-grabbing", overall crime had fallen by four per cent in the province thanks to the work of the police in bringing down drug trafficking gangs.

Not everyone agrees with the delegate's assessment, however. Provincial head of police union UFP, Susana Correales, said that police numbers needed to be bolstered: "We are seeing that forces across the province have officer shortages of between 13 and 20 per cent. Obviously, being fully staffed will result in more efficient policing."

Similarly, Guardia Civil union AUGC's Andalucía representative, Javier Torrellas, believes that "a special plan, like the one in place in the Campo de Gibraltar, would give more power to the law enforcement forces in their investigations".